The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volume 3 (of 4). Dent John Charles
before. McBeth had gained complete ascendancy over the Colonel's failing mind. Being a young man of some education, and a good deal of finesse, he was treated by his master as a companion rather than as a servant, and the latter merited his master's regard by nursing him with much care and attention.
Colonel Talbot remained in London somewhat more than a year, during which period, as also during his previous visits to England, he renewed old associations with the friend of his youth, the great Duke. He was often the latter's guest at Apsley House, and the stern old hero of a hundred fights delighted in his society. London life, however, was distasteful to Colonel Talbot, and, after giving it a fair trial, he once more bade adieu to society and repaired to Canada — always attended assiduously by George McBeth. Upon reaching the settlement he took lodgings for himself and his companion in the house of Jeffery Hunter's widow. Here, cooped up in a small room, on the outskirts of the magnificent estate which was no longer his own, he received occasional visits from his old friends. Colonel Airey, meanwhile, had rented the Port Talbot property to an English gentleman named Saunders, and had returned to his post at the Horse Guards in England. Mr. Saunders had several daughters, to one of whom George McBeth paid assiduous court, and whom he afterwards married. Upon his marriage he removed to London, accompanied by Colonel Talbot, who resided with him until his death, on the 6th of February, 1853. When the Colonel's will was opened it was found that with the exception of an annuity of £20 to Jeffery Hunter's widow, all his vast estate, estimated at £50,000, had been left to George McBeth.
The funeral took place on the 9th. On the previous day — the 8th — the body was conveyed in a hearse from London to Fingal, on the way to Port Talbot, so as to be ready for interment on the following morning. By some culpable neglect or mismanagement it was placed for the night in the barn or granary of the local inn. The settlers were scandalized at this indignity, and one of them begged, with tears in his eyes, that the body might be removed to his house, which was close by. The undertaker, who is said to have been under the influence of liquor, declined to accede to this request, and the body remained all night in the barn. On the following morning it was replaced in the hearse and conveyed to Port Talbot, where it rested for a short time within the walls of Castle Malahide. A few attached friends from London and other parts of the settlement attended the coffin to its place of sepulture in the churchyard at Tyrconnel. The officiating clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Holland, read the service in a cutting wind, and the ceremony was ended. A plate on the oaken coffin bore the simple inscription:
THE HON. DAVID LAIRD,
The Hon. David Laird is the fourth son of the late Hon. Alexander Laird, a Scottish farmer who, in the year 1819, emigrated from Renfrewshire to Prince Edward Island. The late Mr. Laird settled in Queen's County, about sixteen miles from Charlottetown, the capital of the Province, and devoted himself to agriculture. He was a man of high character and great influence, alike in political and social matters. For about sixteen years he represented the First District of Queen's County in the Local Assembly, and during one Parliamentary term of four years he was a member of the Executive Council. He was a colleague and supporter of the Hon. George Coles, who is called the father of Responsible Government in Prince Edward Island. He was one of the signatories to the petition forwarded by the Assembly to the Home Government in 1847, praying that Responsible Government might be conceded; and he had the satisfaction of sitting in the Assembly on the 25th of March, 1851, when Sir Alexander Bannerman, the Governor, announced that the prayer of the petition had been granted. He was also for many years one of the most active members of the Managing Committee of the Royal Agricultural Society of Prince Edward, an institution which did much for the advancement of agricultural industry in the Province, by encouraging the importation of improved stock, and by other similar operations.
The subject of this sketch was born at the paternal home, near the village of New Glasgow, Queen's County, in the year 1833. He was educated at the district school of his native settlement, and afterwards entered the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia, which was then situated at Truro, in that Province. He completed his education at the Seminary, and soon afterwards embarked in journalism at Charlottetown, where he founded a newspaper called The Patriot. Under his editorship and business management this journal became, in the course of a few years, the leading organ of public opinion in Prince Edward Island. It advocated Liberal principles, and was conducted with much energy and ability. The editor had inherited Liberal ideas from his father, and spoke and wrote on behalf of them with great effect. After a time he became estranged from the leader of the Liberal Party, the chief cause of estrangement arising from the latter's having lent his countenance to some proceedings tending to exclude the Bible from the Common Schools. All minor causes of controversy, however, were cast into the shade by the great question of Confederation. After the close of the Quebec Conference in October, 1864, Mr. Laird took a firm stand against the terms of the scheme agreed upon by the delegates, in so far as they related to his native Province. He assigned as his principal reasons for adopting this course the fact that the terms contained no proposal for the settlement of the Land Question, which had long been a sore grievance with the tenantry of the island; and the further fact that no provision was made for the construction of public works, although the island could be called upon to contribute its quota of taxation towards the Intercolonial Railway, the canals, and the Pacific Railway. He took an active part in the promotion of sanitary and other local improvements, and was for some years a member of the Charlottetown City Council. His first entry into Parliamentary life took place in 1871. The then-existing Government, under the leadership of the Hon. James Colledge Pope (the present Minister of Marine and Fisheries in the Dominion Government), had carried a measure for the construction of the Prince Edward Island Railway, running nearly the entire length of the island. This project Mr. Laird had opposed, on the ground that it should have been first submitted to the people at the polls, and also because he regarded the undertaking as beyond the resources of the Province. The Government, however, had carried the Bill providing for the construction of the road through the House during the previous session, and the surveyors and Commissioners had been appointed. The Chairman of the Commissioners, the Hon. James Duncan, represented the constituency of Belfast in the Legislative Assembly, and was obliged to return to his constituents for reëlection after accepting office. Mr. Laird offered himself as a candidate in opposition to the Government nominee. His candidature was successful. The Commissioner was defeated, and Mr. Laird secured a seat in the Assembly. A good deal of dissatisfaction had been excited by the proceedings of the Local Government in connection with the construction of the road, the result being that Mr. Pope, when he next met the House, found he had lost the confidence of the majority, and being defeated, he dissolved the House and appealed to the country. The appeal was disastrous to his policy, a majority of the members returned being hostile to his Government. Among these was Mr. Laird, who was elected a second time for Belfast. A new Government was formed with Mr. R. P. Haythorne as Premier. During the following autumn Mr. Laird accepted office in this Government, and was sworn in as a Member of the Executive Council in November, 1872. Finding that if the railway were proceeded with on the credit of Prince Edward Island alone, the Provincial finances would be seriously embarrassed, the new Ministers responded favourably to an invitation from Ottawa to reconsider the question of Union. Mr. Laird formed one of the delegation which proceeded to Ottawa and negotiated terms of Union with the Dominion Government. After the return of the delegates the Local House was dissolved in order that the terms agreed upon might be submitted to the people. A good deal of finesse was practised by the Opposition, and various side issues were imported into the election contest. The result was the return of a majority hostile to Mr. Haythorne's Ministry, and Mr. Pope again succeeded to the reins of Government. Under his auspices the terms of Union were slightly modified, and Prince Edward Island entered Confederation.
Mr. Laird had meanwhile succeeded to the leadership of the Liberal Party. The House did not divide, however, on the question of Confederation, and both Parties concurred in supporting the measure. Mr. Laird resigned his seat in the Local Legislature, and offered himself as a candidate for the House of Commons for the electoral district of Queen's County. He was returned by a large majority, and on the opening of the second session of the second Parliament